The role of formal and informal institutions in farmland consolidation: The case of Shiga Prefecture, Japan

As farmland is not effectively utilized from economic or environmental perspectives, this study proposes an institutional system for coordinating farmland use in Japan, examining the role played by communities. We propose a theoretical and conceptual model to identify the conditions for successful farmland use coordination and classify the various types of farmland consolidation into four simplified models. We compare these models in terms of (1) change in profits from individual to collective farmland use for landowners and cultivators, (2) transaction costs for mobilizing farmland, (3) transaction costs associated with collective action, and (4) the possibility of coordinating the interests of community members. Econometric analysis indicates that the promotion of collective actions increases the likelihood of communities with a high level of social capital to coordinate farmland use, concentrate farmland in the hands of large-scale cultivators, and prevent the abandonment of farmland. Overall, the results of this study point to the importance of social capital accumulation in rural communities to achieve high degrees of land consolidation

過剰なグルテン除去が与える影響について

　グルテンは、小麦などの麦類に含まれる蛋白質の一種であり、米国ではグルテンを含まない食品を「グルテンフリー（以下、GF）」と表示している。GFと表示された食品（以下、GF食品）を用いた食生活は（以下GF食）、セリアック病などの治療に用いられている。近年、欧米においてGF食は健康に有用である、さらには痩身にも有用であるとの情報が拡散し、グルテンを避ける必要がない者がGF食を取り入れる傾向がある。これをうけて日本でも同様の情報が拡散しGF食品が増加してきた。本研究では、グルテンを避ける必要がない者がGFを選択した場合、非GFと比較して、摂取する栄養量にどのような差異が生じるかを明らかにすることを目的とした。本研究では、GF食/非GF食として最もポピュラーだと思われるパンを試料とした。　結果、グルテンを避ける必要がない者がGFパンを長期的かつ日常的に選択した場合、非GFパンを選択した場合と比較して、食物繊維や鉄の不足および脂質の過剰といった悪影響が出る可能性があることがわかった

製パン関連企業勤務者におけるグルテンフリー食の認知度

グルテンフリー食によって、影響を受けると思われる製パン企業とその関連企業に勤務する成人男女82名を対象に、グルテンフリー食に関する認知度についてgoogleフォームを利用したweb調査を実施した。グルテンフリー食を認知している人は79名（96.3%）であった。グルテンフリー食を治療食とする小麦関連疾患のうち、セリアック病、小麦不耐症に関する認知度はそれぞれ52名（63.4%）、46名（56.1%）で、グルテンフリー食の認知度に比べると低かった。これら2つの小麦関連疾患の認知度とグルテンフリー食に期待する効果には関連が見られ、小麦関連疾患を認知していない群では、グルテンフリー食に対して「減量に効果がある」との誤った効果を期待している人が多かった。製パン企業とその関連企業に勤務する人でも、グルテンフリー食に関する正しい知識が不足により、科学的根拠のない情報の影響を受ける可能性が示唆された

A Novel Strategy to Construct Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strains for Very High Gravity Fermentation

Very high gravity (VHG) fermentation is aimed to considerably increase both the fermentation rate and the ethanol concentration, thereby reducing capital costs and the risk of bacterial contamination. This process results in critical issues, such as adverse stress factors (ie., osmotic pressure and ethanol inhibition) and high concentrations of metabolic byproducts which are difficult to overcome by a single breeding method. In the present paper, a novel strategy that combines metabolic engineering and genome shuffling to circumvent these limitations and improve the bioethanol production performance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains under VHG conditions was developed. First, in strain Z5, which performed better than other widely used industrial strains, the gene GPD2 encoding glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase was deleted, resulting in a mutant (Z5ΔGPD2) with a lower glycerol yield and poor ethanol productivity. Second, strain Z5ΔGPD2 was subjected to three rounds of genome shuffling to improve its VHG fermentation performance, and the best performing strain SZ3-1 was obtained. Results showed that strain SZ3-1 not only produced less glycerol, but also increased the ethanol yield by up to 8% compared with the parent strain Z5. Further analysis suggested that the improved ethanol yield in strain SZ3-1 was mainly contributed by the enhanced ethanol tolerance of the strain. The differences in ethanol tolerance between strains Z5 and SZ3-1 were closely associated with the cell membrane fatty acid compositions and intracellular trehalose concentrations. Finally, genome rearrangements in the optimized strain were confirmed by karyotype analysis. Hence, a combination of genome shuffling and metabolic engineering is an efficient approach for the rapid improvement of yeast strains for desirable industrial phenotypes

The impact of oxygen on the transcriptome of recombinant S. cerevisiae and P. pastoris - a comparative analysis

Background: Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris are two of the most relevant microbial eukaryotic platforms for the production of recombinant proteins. Their known genome sequences enabled several transcriptomic profiling studies under many different environmental conditions, thus mimicking not only perturbations and adaptations which occur in their natural surroundings, but also in industrial processes. Notably, the majority of such transcriptome analyses were performed using non-engineered strains. In this comparative study, the gene expression profiles of S. cerevisiae and P. pastoris, a Crabtree positive and Crabtree negative yeast, respectively, were analyzed for three different oxygenation conditions (normoxic, oxygen-limited and hypoxic) under recombinant protein producing conditions in chemostat cultivations. Results: The major differences in the transcriptomes of S. cerevisiae and P. pastoris were observed between hypoxic and normoxic conditions, where the availability of oxygen strongly affected ergosterol biosynthesis, central carbon metabolism and stress responses, particularly the unfolded protein response. Steady state conditions under low oxygen set-points seemed to perturb the transcriptome of S. cerevisiae to a much lesser extent than the one of P. pastoris, reflecting the major tolerance of the baker's yeast towards oxygen limitation, and a higher fermentative capacity. Further important differences were related to Fab production, which was not significantly affected by oxygen availability in S. cerevisiae, while a clear productivity increase had been previously reported for hypoxically grown P. pastoris. Conclusions: The effect of three different levels of oxygen availability on the physiology of P. pastoris and S. cerevisiae revealed a very distinct remodelling of the transcriptional program, leading to novel insights into the different adaptive responses of Crabtree negative and positive yeasts to oxygen availability. Moreover, the application of such comparative genomic studies to recombinant hosts grown in different environments might lead to the identification of key factors for efficient protein production

Constraints that the Agricultural Policy System Is Facing and Its Future Directions

Various actors, based on the rules established for each place, are directly or indirectly planning, determining and implementing policies related to food, agriculture and rural communities. When this "agricultural policy system" tries to achieve its policy objective, the policy system is influenced by the other policy systems. This article discusses conceptually how the other policy systems, especially the international trade policy system, the fiscal policy system, and the decentralization policy system, could interact with the agricultural policy system. Furthermore, the article tries to understand what the major constraints are that the agricultural policy system is facing and its future directions

清酒酵母の栄養特性及び醸造特性に関する研究

広島大学(Hiroshima University)博士(農学)Agriculturedoctora

センイ チュウタイ セツジョ ジュツ ゴ ト セクスプレス チューブ シャント ソウニュウ ジュツゴ ノ ゼンボウ スイチュウ MCP-1 ノウド ヘンカ ト ロカホウ コウゾウ

熊本大